Too Hot to Handel

Music lovers have taken to affectionately calling this year's Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center the "Heartily Handel Festival" - given its special focus on the music of Georg Frideric Handel. And although the concerts by the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra have been canceled in the aftermath of a strike by the musicians, most performances by visiting ensembles are taking place as scheduled. Among these is a four-night run by the Mark Morris Dance Group joined by acclaimed Handel conductor Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in its celebrated reinvention of Handel's L'Allegro, il Peneroso ed il Moderato, a "pastoral ode" based on verses by Milton.

In anticipation of this noteworthy series, Tuesday's Evening Music spotlights a recent recording of this marvelous work by the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, conducted by John Nelson and featuring the stellar lineup of tenor Ian Bostridge, counter-tenor David Daniels, and soprano Christine Brandes. Brandes will be heard in the celebrated "Sweet bird, that shunn'st the noise of folly," one of the greatest "birdsong" arias in the repertory, in which a flute imitates a bird and a soprano imitates the flute (check out the brilliant trills here by flutist Clara Novakova). Brandes will be the soloist this week at the New York State Theater.

Recording Details:

L'Allegro, il Peneroso ed il Moderato
Ian Bostridge, tenor / Christine Brandes, soprano / David Daniels, counter-tenor
John Nelson, conductor
Virgin Classics 45417-2
Available at major CD retailers, including CDNow.com and Tower Records.

Mostly Mozart Festival Details:

Handel's L'Allegro, il Peneroso ed il Moderato

Wednesday August 14 at 8:00 p.m.
Thursday August 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Friday August 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday August 17 at 8:00 p.m.
New York State Theater 65th St. and Columbus

Mark Morris Dance Group (Mostly Mozart debut); Mark Morris, choreographer; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, conductor; Christine Brandes, soprano; Dominique Labelle, soprano; John Mark Ainsley, tenor; Philip Cutlip, baritone; The Dessoff Choirs, Kent Tritle, music director.

For tickets and more information.